Matrix Games Forums

For the AXIS you have to start with the RED BARONS FOKKER Dr.1 [;)]

FOKKER Dr.1 Top[:)]

FOKKER Dr.1 Top for the second time,it did not upload the art first attempt!

Albatros D.V

German Gotha IV Heavy bomber.

Italian Spad S XIII fighter now in game.

Italian Spad S XIII combat screen top view.

Italian Caproni Ca 5 Bomber.

CASTLES OF STEEL scenario air combat screen shot,showing German DR 1 + GOTHA IV attacking Guam.

New aircraft Mitsubishi 2MR1

MITSUBISHI 2MR1 Patrol aircraft are now in the game.

NICE!

Now if only some day Japan had a fighter that could hold its own against the USA in 1928! Observe -

Curtiss A-3 Falcon
Max Speed - 139
Climb rate - 948
Max Altitude - 14100
Manuever - 32
Durability - 25
Endurance - 340
Armor - 0
Four (4) .30 Browning machine guns and twin .303 Lewis maching guns (!)

Curtiss P-1B Hawk
Max Speed - 160
Climb Rate - 1923
Max Altitude - 21400
Manuever - 28
Durability - 26
Endurance - 260
Armor - 1
One .30 Browning and one .50 Browning machine gun

vs.

Mitsubishi 1MF5
Max Speed - 137
Climb Rate - 900
Max Altitude - 14000
Manuever - 28
Durability - 22
Endurance - 160
Armor - 0
Twin 7.7 Vickers Machine guns

The Japanese do get some relief in mid 1929 with the Nakijima A1N1, but why such a long delay? The first prototype flew in 1927, and it went into production in 1929. But that was during peacetime, don't we think maybe they'd have sped up development during wartime? And even then, the A1N1 was a licensed copy of the British Gloster Gambet!

Here's another intriguing question - the Japanese were just starting to come up with their own aircraft designs in the 1920s. But many of their aircraft, notably the Felixstowe's, Gloster Sparrowhawks, and Sopwich Pups obviously came from Great Britain. The German Heinkel HD25 floatplane is also depicted in the game. These were all built in or shipped to Japan under license. But obviously that would have gone out the window in wartime conditions. Lately I have been wondering what a Japan with access to British, German, and its own designs would have come up with several years into a 1920s war.

Anyway, just thinking and typing out loud, mostly. I've been looking into this topic more closely after some bad air-to-air run ins with the USA in 1928 (in the stock 1926 campaign). Sorry if I'm getting off track.

Great work, Kirk! [;)]

Hi Rob I have been looking over the old forum posts links that you sent me.hence the new Japanese aircraft,I'm doing more aircraft and adding them to the game as per that list,it's the list that the update data was lost for by the game designer,well I'm working my way through it,to see what I can add to the game.I will take a look at the type of aircraft that Japan has access to late 1920's early 30's and add these to the game as potential upgrades,I'm working on converting the 1926 - 30 scenario as we speak,hopefully I should be able to release it some time next week,in the mean time you have these 2 new scenario's to take a look at if you can find the time enjoy.[:)]

Rob I have been taking a look at the Japanese aircraft ratings and my findings are,the Japanese aircraft have been dealt a bad hand,the game designers have been cheating,the data I have found in books and online clearly put the aircraft on a par with the USA designs,so I have fixed the in games ratings to show this,we should have more of a fair fight.[;)]

Thanks Kirk. Its hard to tell how things would have been after 2 1/2 years into a hypothetical 1920s war. But I do think both sides would have learned some lessons from combat, resulting in some of the glaring deficiencies of the peacetime designs being fixed. [8D]

Nakajima Ko-3a just added to the game,this was one of the designers addition for the next update that never happened.

Junkers J.1 Ground attack aircraft.[;)]

Nakajima Type 91 new aircraft for as yet unnamed Scenario 1926 - 31 ish.(Connfire here is a Japanese fighter that will kick ass in 1928 max speed 186 mph)

Specification
MODEL Type 91
CREW 1
ENGINE 1 x Nakajima "Kotobuki-2", 433kW
WEIGHTS
Take-off weight 1500 kg 3307 lb
Empty weight 1075 kg 2370 lb
DIMENSIONS
Wingspan 11 m 36 ft 1 in
Length 7.3 m 24 ft 11 in
Height 3 m 10 ft 10 in
Wing area 20 m2 215.28 sq ft
PERFORMANCE
Max. speed 300 km/h 186 mph
Ceiling 9000 m 29550 ft
Range 500 km 311 miles
ARMAMENT 2 x 7.7mm machine-guns

Looks beautiful Kirk! I'm just looking for balance in the aircraft model. Not necessarily so identical that numerical superiority is the only factor that win battles, but a rock-paper-scissors approach using the Max Speed, Climb Rate, Max Altitude, Manuever, Durability, Endurance, and Armor ratings. In a hypothetical 1920s conflict aircraft development would occur quickly, and unsuccessful historic designs would be quickly discarded.